Month: January 2010

Everyone, at least almost everyone, is on Facebook and a lot of us spend a good amount of time there. What better way than to put Facebook to good use than to help your friends find a job? There’s a new Facebook application – Hire My Friend – that lets you leverage the power of your network to help your job searching friends.

It’s actually old fashioned networking (telling people you know about someone who needs a job) using the advantage of social media. Maybe, even probably, one of your friends knows someone who is hiring or has seen a job lead that might be a good fit or can recommend a company or refer your friend to one of their friends or to a LinkedIn connection.

After you add the Hire My Friend application, you answer a few questions about who your friend is, what they do, and what type of job they are looking for. You can include a link to their LinkedIn profile. Then your friend will be added to your profile. Your friends will be able to send a message to the job seekers or add them as a friend.

Do me a favor though, and before you use this, ask your friends if they want your help. Not everyone wants to publicize their job search on Facebook. Even though you mean well, you’re not doing anyone a favor if you make their job search more public than they want it to be.

On a related note, there are lots of job search related iPhone apps, too. You can download job search iPhone apps that search for jobs by keyword and location (using the iPhone GPS function), email job listings, keep track of your contacts, and even create a resume.

Many iPhone applications are free. Before you buy an app, check for reviews in the iTunes store to make sure it’s worth investing a few dollars.

Since I started using Twitter last year, I’ve learned a few things (ok, a lot of things). I am grateful for the positive example set by so many professionals I’ve met through Twitter.

Whether you are promoting your business or your credentials as a job seeker, here are 20 Tips for Building Your Brand on Twitter:

1. Don’t Sell A Thing

This one is important. Using Twitter is about paying it forward not paying it backward to yourself. Don’t get me wrong. I applaud every business owner out there that offers products and services of value, and makes a living doing so. You deserve to make money. You need to make money to support your family, create jobs, and contribute to your community.Just don’t use Twitter to insert a sales pitch every 8th tweet. Your intentions become quite transparent. Instead, use Twitter with the simple mindset of offering content of value, promoting (and connecting) other people, and showing gratitude.

In networking situations offline, the most appreciated and effective participants are those that serve as matchmakers at an event (even if they just met each person!). Use the same approach on Twitter.

A consistent approach of paying it forward will do more for your business than you can imagine.

2. Be Your Own Voice

Social media is about creating a personal connection with your colleagues, customers, and fans. People want the authentic you, not a hired intern to tweet for you. If you (or your CEO) do not have time to tweet, that’s fine. Just don’t pretend it’s you.

President Obama dropped a social media bombshell recently in China when he indicated he has never used Twitter (in spite of the fact that tweets from @barackobama were a key component of a very successful social media campaign leading up to the election). I think it’s ok to give the President a waiver on this one. For the rest of us, it’s important to be your own voice on Twitter.

3. Use a Real Picture

Just like on LinkedIn, it’s hard to make a personal connection with a logo or someone’s pet:???

Profiles done right:

4. Don’t Be a Social Media Expert

Mashable recently reported that over 15,000 profiles are marked as social media experts. Based on current growth, there will be 30 million social media experts on Twitter by this time 2012. In other words, everyone is an expert at social media. There are indeed social media experts out there and their credentials are reinforced by their books, blogs, and businesses. Unless social media is your business, my recomendation is profile your niche (e.g. project management, career development) and demonstrate social media proficiency.

5. Produce Your Own Content

Starting your own blog is critical (and super easy) for any professional. Taking the time to research and write your own articles will do more for your personal brand and credentials than probably anything else. It takes work, but once you get into a weekly rhythm, it is a lot of fun.

My best advice for content: Make it quick to read and actionable.

6. Add the Retweet Button to Your Blog Post

You’ve seen the Retweet Button at the top of most blog posts:

The key is to embed the code for this button in your blog post that retweets your Twitter handle, not the generic @tweetmeme handle. It is the third option noted on this link.

7. Make Your Latest Article Your Profile Link

If you make your latest blog post your Twitter website link, new followers will immediately discover the value of your content. It also increases the probability of your most recent article getting re-tweeted by new followers.

8. Help Others

Search Twitter for questions people are asking, and if you are in a position to help, please do so. Don’t just look for questions in your field. I always remember (and recommend) good people who simply respond to questions I may have about movies, the start time of a game, or where to eat in a new city.

(Oh, and still waiting to see Avatar. Up In The Air was very good though.)

9. Ask Questions

Asking questions is a great way to engage new people every day. When someone responds professionally, do not forget to acknowledge the person publically with another tweet.

10. Tweet Often But Not With Rapid Fire

Nobody appreciates someone who floods their twitter feed with a new tweet every 30 seconds. You may be a very interesting person, but nobody likes the person either who walks into a party and does not let anyone get in a word edgewise.

Approach Finding a Mate Like Looking for Work

Searching for a job, like dating, can be time consuming and frustrating. Successful job hunters use many techniques for finding work that will also serve a dater well.

A successful career or a happy marriage can be the keys to happiness in someone’s life. So, too, achieving either one can be accomplished through similar methods.

Use Face to Face and Online Networking

Online professional networking sites have become a powerful tool for business and for job hunting. Sites like LinkedIn help people connect with friends, colleagues, and friends of friends in order to make personal contacts and perhaps get a foot in the door at a company where a resume might otherwise have been lost in the crowd.

Similarly, social networking sites are becoming a source for romantic dates. People already know they have friends in common and share similar interests. Strangers interact virtually on sites like Facebook through posting comments to mutual friends. A gutsy next step would be to make one-on-one contact with someone in a friend’s network and perhaps eventually suggest a live meeting. A newly married couple was featured in People magazine in 2009 because they “met” online when one emailed the other just to say, “Hey, we have the same name!”

Write a Good “Cover Letter”

Cover letters to potential employers that are an obvious cut-and-paste job generally wind up in the circular file. It is obvious that they are part of a careless mass mailing with no regard for the particular job being filled, and Human Resources will see them as weak and lazy.

Likewise, introductory emails that make no reference to the reader’s personal profile will show that the sender has blanketed the masses with this email with no rhyme or reason. A good email will demonstrate that the writer has read the reader’s profile and has legitimate reasons for thinking they might be a good match.

Go on Informational Interviews and “Practice” Dates

Sometimes a job hunter is uncertain about a particular job or a company and may be ambivalent about going on the live interview. Rarely, however, is such an interview a waste of time. Perhaps through a live meeting the interviewee will make a favorable impression on the employer and learn about a more suitable opening that is becoming available in the upcoming weeks. Maybe the interviewer will ask a provocative question that solicits an answer that the interviewee had not anticipated, but at another interview for a better job should a similar question arise again then a good response will already have been thought through.

A single might be ambivalent about whether or not to go on a date with someone. Approaching such a date as “practice” can yield unexpected consequences. At worst it will take an hour or two out of someone’s life. At best, the date can turn out better than expected and lead to something more. Somewhere in between a platonic friendship could be made, or the daters can practice small talk, always a useful skill.

The application indexes tweets related to recruitment from across the Twittersphere, in real-time, based on TwitJobSearch’s algorithm (our earlier coverage).

Basically, it’s just a custom branded TweetDeck client that comes with two additional default columns: ‘Job Search Experts’ and ‘TwitJobSearch’, although it can also prove helpful to add a LinkedIn column carrying the latest updates from the professional social network (and perhaps even your Facebook news feed).

Recruiters can follow a few simple steps to ensure their tweets are indexed by the TwitJobSearch service, helping them connect with potential candidates through social media more effectively, and for free. The TwitJobSearch site itself offers advertisers the ability to purchase premium, or “Tweetured” job listings, sold on a CPC basis. Current advertisers include brands such as Adidas, KFC, and Lloyds Banking Group, according to Clickz.

The JobDeck app itself will not feature any premium ad opportunities at this point.

Last week, we asked CAREEREALISM readers how long it’s going to take to find a job in 2010. The majority of you (45%) said you expect it to take 3-5 months to find work. But honestly, current economic indicators suggest it will be even longer. With 6 job seekers to every job opening and unemployment expected to hover near 10% for most of 2010, the harsh reality is only the truly committed job seekers will find work. Similar to losing weight, job search will be tried by many, but achieved by few.

Here’s why…

Job seekers deal with many of the same challenges dieter’s do. There’s a reason 95% of people trying to lose weight don’t reach their goal – they are lacking one or more vital elements to success. The same applies for job seekers. While paved with good intentions, most job seekers don’t have what they really need to complete a successful job search.

3 Elements for Success

Whether we are trying to lose weight or find a job, it all boils down to environment. Specifically, an environment that provides three things:

– Inspiration

– Education

– Connection

When we have the above, our ability to succeed improves significantly. And, one of the best ways to gain access to these vital elements is to join a club.

Whether Dieting or Job Seeking, NOBODY Should Go it Alone!

Let’s look at health club benefits. We join because we recognize we need to be motivated to workout. Additionally, we know we’re not experts in exercise and want to take advantage of the expertise of fitness instructors and personal trainers on staff. Finally, (and most importantly), we hit the club so we can connect with other people looking to lose weight, which helps make the process feel less isolated and difficult. To sum it up: Joining a club offers multiple benefits we wouldn’t be able to access on our own.

PREDICTION: Smart Job Seekers Will Seek Out and Join ‘Career Clubs’ in 2010!

For the same reason dieters join health clubs, job seekers who want to find work in 2010 will be wise to join career clubs that can provide the daily inspiration, education and connection needed to keep a job search moving forward. Examples of these clubs Include:

Job seekers who want to put their search in high-gear (Think ‘The Biggest Loser’ approach), will seek out new tools and resources to help them get up-to-speed faster. One example is the FREE webinar we are doing on Wednesday, January 13th, entitled, “6 Things Every Job Seeker Must MASTER to Get Hired in 2010.” In this hour-long session, job seekers will learn the strategic and tactical elements of job search that need to be leveraged for success.

So, if you haven’t signed up, you can do so here. And, if you can’t make the session, sign up anyways and we’ll send you a link to the recorded session by e-mail the next day so you can listen to it later. Why? Because at the end we’ll be unveiling a new ‘career club’ that you may want to know about.

When you’re seeking employment, Twitter can be an effective part of your job search strategy. Used in conjunction with LinkedIn, job search engines, and other job sites, Twitter can help you make connections, find job listings, and build a personal brand that will help boost your career and expedite your job search.

What’s the best way to use Twitter to job search, without getting bogged down in tons of tweets? Gary Zukowski, CEO and founder of TweetMyJOBS, the largest Twitter job board, share his top tips for using Twitter to job search.